Can I delete Files In Reaper? Serious Question

[Hoof Hearted]

Sorry for double post, but this question lies at the heart of my biggest problems using Reaper, which I think helped to contribute to my latest hard drive crash.

I know I can "Remove Item", while working in Reaper, but this isn't deleting it. This only removes the file from my DAW, while it remains untouched in my designated project folder.

If I can't delete a poor quality Wave Sound file the moment I realize it's bad, How am I too get rid of it other than going into my designated project folder and deleting it there?

If I have to delete it there, How am I to know the good ones from the bad ones? For Instance if I do ten takes on a chorus vocal, and they all pretty much sound the same, but only one is the best, how do I know which ones to delete, other than matching up the soundwave titles, which are usually something like "voice 000278965_015", Or listening once again to determine their quality?


Sorry if I'm not explaining this well, but this issue has been driving me batty for years now. I have thousands of unwanted files, that I just don't have time to figure out whether they are the good takes or the bad takes.
It's completely clogged my hard drive arteries, and my desktop pc had a stroke (it was a dinosaur and I'm not an expert so not trying blame Reaper here).

I'm a little bummed, but optimistic I can find the solution before doing the same thing to my laptop.

Thanks guys

[xpander]

I just browsed by quickly but think there was already some good advice on the other thread about the project management. There seems to be one basic issue that you need to solve and no software feature will help much with that. If there are even thousands of leftover snippets piling up and you really don't have time to go through them, you either;
a) Let them pile up and deal with the space concerns etc. accordingly. You might be able to check them sometime later on, for that you may want to seal the lot and start with new working habits.
b) Delete them away and never look back.

Really, what else can you do? There is no software solution which will automatically go through all your leftovers and decide for you what is best to keep, what to toss away. If you will not do it yourself one by one, and I can understand what a chore that might be, that's it.

Now, no matter what you would do with the old stuff, your next step would be changing your working habits. Or maybe breaking your old working habits, since the old slippery slope will wait and grab you back unless you really change it.

One idea would be to start always with a new project unless continuing the work with an older project. No collection into some common folder first. So, start by creating first a new project. Name it whatever you want (even just a date, it can always be renamed later) and save into a new folder. It doesn't have to be "for real", designated as a keeper right from the get go. It may be just an evening jam, one idea or no idea yet. But the thing is, it will be its own separate entity and no matter what you do later with that project, everything within that project folder is related to that project. You want to get rid of some stuff not needed in that project, "clean current project directory" and you stay lean and clean with the stuff.

If you get an idea to use some of that stuff for another project, copy it there (again as a new project) and then clean your current directory. The idea is to stay on top of what is happening with your projects and there will be nothing else to worry about. You don't have to go checking and hunting around and if something is extra, you are within a specific project to decide what to do with it.

All this doesn't mean that you shouldn't have backups of your projects somewhere safe. The specific project folders can actually help there too. You can have your projects as compact "packages" and not worry if you managed to hunt down and save every related file, they are all already included.

[grinder]

Go to the top left of the main Reaper project page
click on file
go down to
"Clean Current Project Directory"
You can delete these there.

You do of course have to have set up the
project you are currently using to have it's own folder with tune name to save all the projects wave files when you record them.

I never save a file I do not think suitable or good enough at the time to use so I delete them all at frequent times.

This "Clean Current Project Directory" only contains files not currently used in your project even though you have recorded them previously in the project.
I hope that helps.

Grinder

https://soundcloud.com/steve-maitland-1
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stevemaitland

[Pook2000]

Very informative. Thx!

[Hoof Hearted]

Originally Posted by grinder

Go to the top left of the main Reaper project page
click on file
go down to
"Clean Current Project Directory"
You can delete these there.

You do of course have to have set up the
project you are currently using to have it's own folder with tune name to save all the projects wave files when you record them.

I never save a file I do not think suitable or good enough at the time to use so I delete them all at frequent times.

This "Clean Current Project Directory" only contains files not currently used in your project even though you have recorded them previously in the project.
I hope that helps.

Grinder

https://soundcloud.com/steve-maitland-1
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stevemaitland

Grinder, I'm not sure what all you've been grinding on, but this answer explains the function in a way that would work well for me- although still less than optimal in my mind. Thank you.
I will address a more optimal possibility in my next reply n this thread.

[Hoof Hearted]

Originally Posted by xpander

There seems to be one basic issue that you need to solve and no software feature will help much with that.

Respectfully, and quite ignorantly I would like to contest this notion.

It's in my view that software is often created to work around people's bad habits, and not the other way around.

For instance, if people regularly forget to properly shut down their laptops before the battery expires, there should be software that can manage that task for the forgetful minded. It could even automatically save unsaved programs like Word so that progress isn't lost.

Likewise, if we were to ask the software techs at Reaper, "Hey guys, is there a way to implement software, so that we could just delete items directly from the project we are working on, and all of those "deleted" files could then go to a catch bin (such as a recycling bin)where they would be designated for "permanent deletion" after a week or two?

If it's not something Reaper can do, is it not something the microsoft windows techs could handle? Or, if the two companies combined their brains, could they still not create such a software advancement?

It's in my humble opinion they could, then it would just be easy peasy, cheddar cheesy for every noob who came along and wanted to start recording without learning all of the "Clean Project Directory" type functions needed to keep our hard drives clean.

Remember when we had to manually defragment? i'm pretty sure software advancements took care of that chore for us.

The way I am proposing, we'd simply delete what we didn't like hearing, and then even if it turned out to be a mistake deleting a particular file, we could always track it down again in the recycling bin.

Thank you for your reply, and just wondering if you had any thoughts regarding my proposed deletion methods?

[grinder]

Yes Hoof Hearted Reaper does require good housekeeping as it were. That said there is heaps of logic in doing it this way.
Getting you to save your files in a place of your choosing enables this method to work well, just a little bit of setting up is all.

My non de plume... Grinder
I grind jade a quite hard stone many times harder than steel.
I am an artist and grind away at this music and other things as a hard working person does...
Website at www.jadeartross.co.nz real NZ Nephrite jade.
Take it from me the majority of "Jade" workings around the world are made of fake stone.

(A Malaysian gentleman told me this he had two factories pumping out the stuff....

Any way have fun.

Best

Grinder

[KevinW]

Originally Posted by Hoof Hearted

Respectfully, and quite ignorantly I would like to contest this notion.

It's in my view that software is often created to work around people's bad habits, and not the other way around.

For instance, if people regularly forget to properly shut down their laptops before the battery expires, there should be software that can manage that task for the forgetful minded. It could even automatically save unsaved programs like Word so that progress isn't lost.

Likewise, if we were to ask the software techs at Reaper, "Hey guys, is there a way to implement software, so that we could just delete items directly from the project we are working on, and all of those "deleted" files could then go to a catch bin (such as a recycling bin)where they would be designated for "permanent deletion" after a week or two?

If it's not something Reaper can do, is it not something the microsoft windows techs could handle? Or, if the two companies combined their brains, could they still not create such a software advancement?

It's in my humble opinion they could, then it would just be easy peasy, cheddar cheesy for every noob who came along and wanted to start recording without learning all of the "Clean Project Directory" type functions needed to keep our hard drives clean.

Remember when we had to manually defragment? i'm pretty sure software advancements took care of that chore for us.

The way I am proposing, we'd simply delete what we didn't like hearing, and then even if it turned out to be a mistake deleting a particular file, we could always track it down again in the recycling bin.

Thank you for your reply, and just wondering if you had any thoughts regarding my proposed deletion methods?

I think this argument has merit. Reaper lets you delete midi items that are in your project, and they are gone forever. If you delete a paragraph out of MS office - gone. I think that's the model you're striving for. A different way of thinking,but who's to say it can't or shouldn't be done?
As long as it's just an option.

[Rick O'Shay]

I remember seeing a similar question in this forum a while back. If I remember correctly, Reaper gives you the option to "Save Project As". In the Save window that opens, there is an option that lets you copy only the media that's currently in use to your new destination folder. Once that's done, you can delete the old project & media.

I personally haven't tried this, and I'm just going off of memory, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by Rick O'Shay

I remember seeing a similar question in this forum a while back. If I remember correctly, Reaper gives you the option to "Save Project As". In the Save window that opens, there is an option that lets you copy only the media that's currently in use to your new destination folder. Once that's done, you can delete the old project & media.

I personally haven't tried this, and I'm just going off of memory, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

It works, I posted the same in the other thread...

Save As with 'create subdirectory' and 'Move to project directory' checked. In practice this will leave only files that can be deleted in the default media directory which you can delete at your leisure and only files you actually want are moved into the newly created project directory.

Rule #1 - Create a project directory for every project.
Rule #2 - See rule #1.

[Mr. Data]

Originally Posted by Hoof Hearted

Likewise, if we were to ask the software techs at Reaper, "Hey guys, is there a way to implement software, so that we could just delete items directly from the project we are working on, and all of those "deleted" files could then go to a catch bin (such as a recycling bin)where they would be designated for "permanent deletion" after a week or two?

Well, there is a software, that can do it, but it wouldn't solve the problem you mentioned in the other thread, where you're going to open the project a few months later or so, because these files were gone by then.

Originally Posted by Hoof Hearted

If it's not something Reaper can do, is it not something the microsoft windows techs could handle? Or, if the two companies combined their brains, could they still not create such a software advancement?

It's a sorta point of view thing. As Tod mentioned in the other thread, it saved him lots of annoyance, because just what disturbs you, prevents you (and every new user) at the same time from making mistakes that can't be undone later (as long as you don't have the bad idea to delete files using the explorer or other software). The philosophy is, that you can undo everything, if you did something wrong - even the inadvertent deletion of an element you've recorded before and you've put a lot love and work in can be undone. If you get more familiar with Reaper, you will be thankful and happy that it is like it is.

However, in the already mentioned SWS-Extensions (http://sws.mj-s.com/) there are actions for deleting files immediately, but using these actions on a regular basis as a working habit, will give you more vexation than delight in the long run, because things are deleted fast, but probably can't be restored afterwards.


-Data

[Tod]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

Save As with 'create subdirectory' and 'Move to project directory' checked. In practice this will leave only files that can be deleted in the default media directory which you can delete at your leisure and only files you actually want are moved into the newly created project directory.

Hi karbo, I don't think there is a 'Move to project directory'. There is a "Move all media into project directory".

The problem that I have with "Create subdirectory for project" and "Move (or Copy) all media into project directory" is that it creates a sub directory that's the same as the name of my song. I almost never want that.

Also, "Move (or Copy) all media" moves or copies the audio files to the same directory as the rpp file. That means I still have to move them to my audio folder.

And regardless, I still have to set up my media folder in "Project Settings>Media".

I just like to get it all set up before proceeding with recording and building the project.

[serr]

Originally Posted by Hoof Hearted

Sorry for double post, but this question lies at the heart of my biggest problems using Reaper, which I think helped to contribute to my latest hard drive crash.

I know I can "Remove Item", while working in Reaper, but this isn't deleting it. This only removes the file from my DAW, while it remains untouched in my designated project folder.

If I can't delete a poor quality Wave Sound file the moment I realize it's bad, How am I too get rid of it other than going into my designated project folder and deleting it there?

If I have to delete it there, How am I to know the good ones from the bad ones? For Instance if I do ten takes on a chorus vocal, and they all pretty much sound the same, but only one is the best, how do I know which ones to delete, other than matching up the soundwave titles, which are usually something like "voice 000278965_015", Or listening once again to determine their quality?
Who has time for that?

Sorry if I'm not explaining this well, but this issue has been driving me batty for years now. I have thousands of unwanted files, that I just don't have time to figure out whether they are the good takes or the bad takes.
It's completely clogged my hard drive arteries, and my desktop pc had a stroke.

I'm a little bummed, but optimistic I can find the solution before doing the same thing to my laptop.

Thanks guys

Other advice may vary, but here's what I think is the easiest workflow in Reaper for this.

First of all, as you progress with your mix for a particular project, periodically update the name with a version number. Either with Reaper's feature in the file menu or manually with 'save as'.

This lets you go back to previous versions if/when you screw something up!



OK...

Now when you have your project cleaned up, do a 'save as'. Check the boxes for 'create project subdirectory' to make a new folder and then either for copy or move audio to new subdirectory.

If you think you have audio files used in multiple projects, probably better to check the 'copy' box.

You'll have a new folder with the .rpp file and all the audio files from the cleaned up project only.

Once you are sure everything worked, you can delete the original folder.

BUT MAKE SURE you go through everything first if you have multiple projects with audio saved in a common folder!!

[mdmiller]

I feel for you. I can imagine the mess you have on your hands. The easiest thing would be to open each project and "Save As" a new project in it's own folder. Make sure the move or copy files checkBox is checked and then clean the directory. It shouldn't take very long.

One thing Reaper could do is to ask for a project name and location when a new project is started. However, it's not difficult to get into the habit of naming the project before you record anything. It's a good habit when using any program.

The code to delete a file is very simple. It's something Reaper could easily implement so it's not an issue with Reaper or the OS. The issue is knowing which files to delete. This is one reason we save new projects in their own folder. Reaper knows which files aren't being used in the current project and can delete them when cleaning the project folder.

[Studio Tan]

Simple, I just put a directory in the Media Explorer that leads to my Reaper projects folder.

Then, you can just open the Media Explorer, and look into the folder for the project you are working on.

If you haven't saved yet (shame), the file should be in the directory for recorded files, set in the preferences.

But the Media Explorer works for me, as I can play the file before I delete it if I need.


https://soundcloud.com/mididreamer

[Hoof Hearted]

Again, I thank you all for helping me with this, as it has obviously been a difficult subject for me, and some others to grasp.

But let's look at from another view, shall we?
Let's just pretend, for a moment, that I had a magic wand- along with some really good software programming skills and just try to imagine that I were to magically over-night transform the system to a default mode, which I have proposed in another post, and that I will again briefly try to describe here with more clarity.

In this imagined default mode, when a user didn't like what she or he had reviewed, such a user would be able to click "Delete Item" as opposed to, OR along side the commonly used "Remove Item".

When the user clicked on "Delete Item", here is what would happen. The file would be moved to a bin, which had a default set time (yet adjustable), in which the files would be permanently deleted in say, 30 days.

Can anyone say this proposed method would present most users with a problem(s)?

If so, what exactly would be the problem(s) with having a back up bin for deleted files be?

I myself can assuredly say that I have rarely, if ever had a problem "accidentally' deleting items or files, by pressing the delete button when I didn't mean to. And if I were to accidentally hit delete, the simple catch bin I've proposed should solve that rare mistake.

Most people would, I think, be able to figure out within 30 days- if not much sooner that they shouldn't have deleted.

Imagine if the delete button asked you before hand, "Are you sure?"- It would seem even less likely that accidental deletion would occur- and even if so- again, a timed catch bin should solve it. I believe this would solve a multitude of headaches for users who just haven't stumbled upon or retained the correct information that leads current users to the "Clean Project Directory" (which almost sounds like "Defragment Now").
If most users haven't figured out how to use that- maybe they have, I don't know, but if they haven't figured it out- then How exactly do they get rid of their unwanted files?

[serr]

Honestly, just getting familiar with your electronic file cabinet that is your hard drive is easier.

You could do all those things with scripts if you wanted to. Or you could just open a Finder window (Explorer in Windows) and look. It's like pulling out the drawer. Use the features to make shortcuts to often used folders. That's like putting colored tags on folders in the file cabinet.

You don't have to go digging through your OS folders (prolly shouldn't) and you don't need to learn programming. Just basic file cabinet skills.

You can also install the SWS extensions in Reaper. Pretty sure there are a few delete actions in there.

Reaper wants ypu to save a new copy of your project and then delete the old one (manually with your OS).

You don't have to be an organization fiend either. Just be a level or two above the equivalent of throwing all the folders away and just dumping everything into the box - which in computer speak is saving everything to the desktop.

[Hoof Hearted]

Originally Posted by serr

Honestly, just getting familiar with your electronic file cabinet that is your hard drive is easier.

I don't doubt you are correct. I'd still like to ask you and others to ask yourself- How many users, or more precisely What percentage of Reaper users know where to find the "Clean Project Directory", or know how to use it?

If even only a tiny percentage of users are as thick as me, and have been cropping in Reaper for years now without using it- Where are all of those files?

My guess is they are still sitting on a burnt out hard drive somewhere, and probably headed for the scrap.

I appreciate what you say- it's similar to advising little boys to clean up their pee from in front of the toilet floor after doing their business- and little boys should keep being advised to do just that, as a means to manifest good habits. But, eventually mom's and dad's get sick of their little humans forgetting, and eventually buy a little rug to put in front of the toilet because in reality, it's a more effective way to contain the little drips of nastiness.

I'm proposing it might be time for Reaper to install a little rug around the front of the toilet, in order to keep the majority noobs' floors clean from pee.

If my recent poll http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.p...68#post1586368 turns out anything like I'm suspecting it will, then you would have to admit there are a lot of hard drives being packed with unused files.

If that's the case, then I would venture to say, going along with my proposed methods and offering the delete option as the default option- and the "Defragment now," erps, I mean the "Clean Project Directory" as a secondary option- then a that, as a solution, may save a lot of grief for the little ones who can't seem to get it all into the toilet.

[Mr. Data]

Yes, you are right, but your assumption doesn't only apply to Reaper or working with DAWs in general; It applies to all computer systems, I'd suspect. And considering harddisk space this nowadays shouldn't be a problem at all. Keep in mind that it isn't good to keep files for a specified length of time, may it be in a bin or somewhere else and may it be a week or 30 days. It's good to keep them as long as you work on a project, no matter how long the work takes, so you can leave a project for half a year or so and find it exactly as it was, if you want to carry on with it.

Also it is important to put every project in its own folder, otherwise you could unintentionally delete files not needed in one project, but in another. Eg. if you load a project, do (accidentally) a 'clean project directory' and then load another project, that needs files not used in the other project. Imagine you have all your projects, may it be 10 or 12, in one folder and you accidentally run 'clean project directory' or delete a few files by hand, all other (9 or 11) projects would be affected or maybe even destroyed. A bit of 'good habit' simply is necessary to keep things going.

Still, you can delete files directly, if you have installed the SWS-Extensions. Once installed (a matter of 10 seconds or so) they fit in perfectly into the Reaper system and simply enhance it, giving you more possibilities to do things. I, eg., use this delete function if I played or tested something and I am absolutely sure, I don't need what I recorded. I then just click on a toolbar button and the file is gone forever. In all other cases I prefer to clean things up when the work is done or move the project with its soundfiles to another place and simply delete the source.


-Data

[nolman]

It is best to learn good file management habits.
But here is software that can clean you reaper folders:
It scans the project file and identifies used and unused wav's.
BE CAREFULL!

http://www.mediasweeper.com.au/

i'd recommend to keep the deleted files in a seperate folder for a while.

[atza]

Media/Fx bay is your answer

[endorka]

Originally Posted by Mr. Data

Still, you can delete files directly, if you have installed the SWS-Extensions.

Listen to Mr. Data, what he says will do what you want. Once installed, run;

"Xenakios/SWS: [Deprecated] Delete active take of item and send source media to recycle bin"

...where windows will keep or chuck it out in time according to your preferences.

I have it mapped to ALT+F5 for quick use. I know it says deprecated, but it still works. Maybe there is something even better I don't know about!

Jennifer

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by Tod

Hi karbo, I don't think there is a 'Move to project directory'. There is a "Move all media into project directory".

Right, too busy to keep checking exact names when posting.

The problem that I have with "Create subdirectory for project" and "Move (or Copy) all media into project directory" is that it creates a sub directory that's the same as the name of my song. I almost never want that.

It's always what I want, YMMV. If I'm doing something that has multiple songs then I create a master folder for each of those project/song folders.

Also, "Move (or Copy) all media" moves or copies the audio files to the same directory as the rpp file. That means I still have to move them to my audio folder.

Not if you have the default audio folder set in default project settings.

And regardless, I still have to set up my media folder in "Project Settings>Media".

I just like to get it all set up before proceeding with recording and building the project.

Mine is /media and I only had to set it up once, a long time ago so save as + move puts it there, just tested so I literally just save as + move and all is taken care of automatically. So, I should reiterate, for anyone who doesn't mind the song name and project folder being the same name the steps I listed in post #10 will keep things always organized and if followed there will never be any files in Reapers default media location) aka the place they go before you save the project) that can't be deleted.

Btw, if I were doing an 'album' then I'd make a master folder that is the album name then each song as it's own project folder inside of that. I've been doing ^this type of organization for I'm sure over a decade now and all has been well and organized - never lost an audio file that way and everything is always organzied.

[cyrano]

Originally Posted by KevinW

If you delete a paragraph out of MS office - gone. I

OT

Actually, that's not true as hundreds of unfortunate people have already found out.

If you delete a paragraph in Word, it's marked as "deleted", but it's not really deleted as in "wiped forever".

Alcatel once sent out a press release with some bad comments about the press, which they of course "deleted". Until someone opened up the .doc in an editor and promptly published the comments to his blog.

It's also the reason why heavily redacted Word documents end up so big.

[Tod]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

Not if you have the default audio folder set in default project settings.

Mine is /media and I only had to set it up once, a long time ago so save as + move puts it there, just tested so I literally just save as + move and all is taken care of automatically.

Okay, how do I do that?

I've looked all over Project Settings and I can't find any way to set it up.

I mean set up so that the rpp file goes in the main folder that is created during the "Save as", and then the audio files go in a separate audio folder that is automatically created for them.

Is your "Project Settings Media path" also automatically set up in Reaper?

[richie43]

Open a blank project, open "project settings", and set up a project that you want to load as default. I name my audio files folder "Audio", but you can name it anything. Then save this as your default project setting.




Now every time you start a project, Make a folder with the project name and save this new project there. That "Audio" folder will be created and everything you track will go there. When you clean your project directory (using any one of the many ways to do this in Reaper), the files removed will only come from this project folder. I have done this for years and have not accidentally removed needed files since before this.

[Tod]

Originally Posted by richie43

Open a blank project, open "project settings", and set up a project that you want to load as default. I name my audio files folder "Audio", but you can name it anything. Then save this as your default project setting.

Now every time you start a project, Make a folder with the project name and save this new project there. That "Audio" folder will be created and everything you track will go there. When you clean your project directory (using any one of the many ways to do this in Reaper), the files removed will only come from this project folder. I have done this for years and have not accidentally removed needed files since before this.

Aah, okay Richie, thanks a lot, sure enough, it does work.

My needs are a little different, the names of my songs are nearly always different then the names I want for the folders. But I think I've got it figured out how I can still make it work.

Thanks again Richie, I'll be making good use of this.

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by Tod

Is your "Project Settings Media path" also automatically set up in Reaper?

I gave it a name (media) long ago and made it my default project setting. Now if I open reaper and record a few tracks, then Save As - Create subdirectory - Move all media into project directory... It will create both the project directory and the media directory and move the audio files in the media directory. After that step, I use clean project directory moving forward because the project now has an official home and anything 'cleaned' can only belong to that project. Additionally, only files that don't exist anywhere on the time line show up in the clean up list.

** There is one caveat **

If you make a copy of that 'homed' project in it's home directory such as MySong-2.RPP, then make lots of changes and save the project. If you then use clean project directory you could be removing files MySong-1 needs. The same is true if you keep a long undo history, clean the project, then undo to some point before the clean up. I 'think' that could occur - need to double check. I solve it by not being impatient and cleaning the directory too much or not cleaning it until I check to see if this is the case.

^There is a "Save as new version of project" feature but I've not even explored it yet.

[Tod]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

I gave it a name (media) long ago and made it my default project setting. Now if I open reaper and record a few tracks, then Save As - Create subdirectory - Move all media into project directory... It will create both the project directory and the media directory and move the audio files in the media directory. After that step, I use clean project directory moving forward because the project now has an official home and anything 'cleaned' can only belong to that project. Additionally, only files that don't exist anywhere on the time line show up in the clean up list.

** There is one caveat **

If you make a copy of that 'homed' project in it's home directory such as MySong-2.RPP, then make lots of changes and save the project. If you then use clean project directory you could be removing files MySong-1 needs. The same is true if you keep a long undo history, clean the project, then undo to some point before the clean up. I 'think' that could occur - need to double check. I solve it by not being impatient and cleaning the directory too much or not cleaning it until I check to see if this is the case.

^There is a "Save as new version of project" feature but I've not even explored it yet.

Thanks karbo, yeah I tested this out pretty well, it's working as you say.

I'm not worried about cleaning the directory, I've got that pretty well covered.

The way I'll end up using this, is to name my first song using the folder name I want for the project. Then I'll just rename the song the way I want it and delete the other name.

I create a lot of projects in many different categories, like Creating and Editing Samples, working on Kontakt Libraries, Msc Projects, a couple of Clients I'm still working with, etc...

All the categories have a starting folder with many subfolders that also have subfolders.

Consequently I've got a pretty ridged system I use.

At any rate, thanks for turning me on to this, it will save me time and keystrokes.

[Hoof Hearted]

Originally Posted by KevinW

I think this argument has merit. Reaper lets you delete midi items that are in your project, and they are gone forever. If you delete a paragraph out of MS office - gone. I think that's the model you're striving for. A different way of thinking,but who's to say it can't or shouldn't be done?
As long as it's just an option.

Sorry I didn't thank you properly for articulating my thoughts better than I.

You have nailed it by comparing this potential scenario to a word program or MS office- you delete it and it's gone- well sort of...perhaps a quick ctrl+z might bring it back if you're quick.

But yes, the option to either delete or move Items which were removed from project into a separate file for deletion later would be ideal.



I think it was Grinder who mentioned that the "clean project directory" removes only the "unused" wav files, but I'm going to re-read this and the other related threads again as this question, mass compilations of unused files, and fear to delete later always comes up for me every time I begin to get reacquainted with Reaper.




I'm starting from scratch on a brand new laptop (windows 10)with a clean slate, and I am going to try to track and delete these unwanted files as I see fit.

First off I'm just playing around farting/burping ( through mask of course ) what have you into mic and then seeing what happens to the file after I remove it from my unsaved/un-named project.

It turns out the files (or at least some of the files or copies) are being stored in my Documents within a folder named "REAPER Media".

Regarding these, does anyone know if/where any other sizable files associated with the recording can be found anywhere else on my computer besides the REAPER Media folder within Documents?
I particularly appreciate any insight here as I'd like to remove those as well...

There are actually two files in REAPER Media for each removed item- one is a sizable wav file which I understand contains the digital audio, and the other is a Peaks file which I presume allows Reaper to reconstruct the visible peaks and valleys created when the wav file was recorded.

For now I'm pretty sure I want to delete these unwanted farts and muffled burbs (Actually I'm quite certain I do) and I want to be certain they will be deleted.

I will delete these from Documents then try a few more experiments and see if I can keep from screwing anything up, then as I said I will re-read all of the comments on this and other related threads before getting back with you...

Again, So much Thanks to all of you for your help and insights!!!
I know I'll eventually get a handle on this because of you guys!
REAPER still RULES!!!

[Tyrannocaster]

This is kind of a zombie thread, but...

What I do (I have the same gripe you do) is always start a project first with a save into its own directory. Then I open that directory in Windows, but put it below Reaper, or even behind Reaper but with enough showing that I can get it back easily. Then I have that window sort by time, usually so the most recent files are at the bottom (I tend to put the window below Reaper so even if most of it is obscured I can still see the most recent files.) Then if I record a take I know I don't want (often!), I delete it manually from the folder: select (along with the .rpp for the take) and hit DELETE. Yes, I wish it were easier. But It's what I do, anyway.

Another thing I do is to temporarily rename a track that is recording so I can identify takes easily, since the files include the track name.